Iraqi leaders reached a tentative agreement Monday to demand a timetable forthe withdrawal of foreign troops from their war-torn country during talks aheadof a reconciliation conference to be held next year.

The Iraqis want us out of their country. Two thirds of Americans want us out of Iraq. Why does McCain have such a hard time with the concept?

Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombingIran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to thecountry by saying it may be "a way of killing 'em." McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verballyfrom the hip, was responding to a report that U.S. exports to Iran rose tenfoldduring President George W. Bush's term in office despite hostility between thetwo states.

A rise in cigarette sales was a big part of that, according to anAssociated Press analysis of seven years of U.S. trade figures.